The body's powerful healing mechanism was clearly demonstrated in a classic study on three groups
of patients, all of whom suffered from bleeding ulcers in their stomachs. The patients in each group were
informed that they would be tested for a new drug that could stop the bleeding of their ulcers. One group
received the new drug, the second group was given a drug that increased bleeding, and the third group
was given inert placebo pills. Most of the patients were desperate individuals who hoped that the new
drug would help them get rid of their agonizing health problem. The results astounded the researchers.
The bleeding stopped in patients from all the groups, even in those who received the drug that was
supposed to increase bleeding. Could the belief in the new wonder drug have been powerful enough to
override the high toxicity of a bleed-inducing drug?
Obviously, in response to their thoughts and feelings of hope and trust, the patients’ bodies not only
produced special drugs that effectively stopped the bleeding of their ulcers, but they also neutralized the
poisonous substances contained in the drug that was meant to induce bleeding.
Thousands of different studies tell of the amazing effects of the placebo response. In another classic
study conducted in 1950, pregnant women who suffered from severe morning sickness were given syrup
of ipecac, which is an effective compound to induce vomiting. The women were told that ipecac was a
powerful new cure for nausea. To the amazement of the researchers, the women ceased vomiting.
Another intriguing experiment was conducted with the help of medical students. Fifty-six students
received either a pink or a blue sugar pill, and they were told that the pills were either tranquillizers or
stimulants. Only 3 of the 56 students reported that the pills had no effect on them. Most of the students
who received the blue pills assumed that they were tranquillizers and 72 percent of them felt sleepy.
Furthermore, the students who took two blue pills felt sleepier than did those who took only one pill. By
contrast, 32 percent of the students who ingested the pink placebo pills reported that they were less tired,
and one-third of the students stated that they had side effects ranging from headaches, numbness, and
watery eyes to stomach cramps, intestinal pains, itching in the extremities and difficulty walking. All
responses by the students, except for three of them, were caused by their imaginative beliefs.
The implications of these and similar experiments could have revolutionized the entire medical
approach to disease. Unfortunately, the law prohibits the sale of “drugs” that contain nothing but inert
substances. Without such a law, many people could have become their own best healers, using only their
trust in a drug that, in reality, isn’t a drug at all. On the other hand, if placebo sales were made legal,
anyone could make a dummy drug and sell it as a real one. But then who is to decide which one is more
effective? A former president of the Royal College of Physicians in London once estimated that only 10
percent of all diseases could be manipulated effectively by modern methods of treatment, including the
administration of drugs. Disease manipulation does not necessarily mean that drugs have a curative effect.
Actually, most of them merely suppress symptoms, and they are costly. By contrast, a placebo is very
cheap or even cost-free. And it has no harmful side effects.
Healing Is Up To The Patient.
Most medical researchers know that the patient's mental and emotional state can make the crucial
difference whether an administered drug or treatment program is effective or not. If a patient is
experiencing depression, anxiety, negative stress, trauma or an emotional crisis, the prescribed treatment
will have a much lower chance of success. This fact may explain why pharmaceutical drugs have such
meager success rates, on the average, only about 35 percent. The majority of people find no improvement
with these drugs, and many report harmful and, sometimes, devastating side effects. Any scientific